Tikka T3

[rstuart44]

I just bought a Tikka T3 and Browning Safari both in .308 from someone who just wanted to get rid of the guns. My 12 year old shoots a R25 .308 now and it's a little heavy for him so I'm going to give him the Browning and have wanted to get in to long range shooting. I've read a lot about the Tikka on here and other sites. I am new to the long range stuff and looking for opinions on barrels for the T3. Trigger upgrade? I've killed lots of big game over years in the 200-300 yd range but have the area to shoot targets out to 1000. Thanks in advance

[Black Sheep]

I've owned a handful of rifles in my life, and a buddy talked me into buying a Tikka T3 lite stainless in 270WSM. After a day of training with a former member here who taught me A LOT, this is the load I ended up with for a 130 barnes tsx. The 130 grain accubond load we developed on training day was just as good!
270 WSM load results
All I have done to my Tikka is adjust the factory trigger to what felt good. A tikka isn't going to run with a $5k custom, but what you get for what you pay, they are really hard to beat!

[Lefty7mmstw]

Originally Posted by rstuart44

I just bought a Tikka T3 and Browning Safari both in .308 from someone who just wanted to get rid of the guns. My 12 year old shoots a R25 .308 now and it's a little heavy for him so I'm going to give him the Browning and have wanted to get in to long range shooting. I've read a lot about the Tikka on here and other sites. I am new to the long range stuff and looking for opinions on barrels for the T3. Trigger upgrade? I've killed lots of big game over years in the 200-300 yd range but have the area to shoot targets out to 1000. Thanks in advance

I think you'll be rather surprised at the accuracy of the factory Tikka barrel. I bought a lh t3 ss in 270 on a whim a little over a year ago and it's one of my better rifles ( with loads it likes it's steady at 1/2 moa), with only a trigger job done to it. Simply take off the stock and turn the poundage screw down 'till you get 2# on your guage and call it a day.

[D.ID]

While I do wish there were more calibers and better twist rates in the heavy barreled versions, the tikka t3 is a great rifle out of the box. Mine will put three bergers from my 300wsm inside 1/2 moa and inside a 1/4 moa if I let it cool a minute in between the second and third shot.

Try it out of the box if you want a good light weight accurate rifle but DO NOT if you want a custom. If you try it out and it shoots like mine you will not be able to disassemble it for a custom project.
If I could change barrels without a smith OR if they offered some decent fast twist heavy barreled versions, I wouldn't buy anything else.

[rstuart44]

Thanks, plan on shooting when I go up for turkey season.